Blessing
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Everything he was brought up to believe was telling him this was wrong but he didn't care. Tim and Eric Slash. COMPLETE


Disclaimer: Don't own Tim, Eric, Horatio or anything to do with CSI Miami. 

Warning: SLASH!

Pairing: Tim/Eric

Blessing

He shouldn't want this. Everything he had been brought up to believe as a child had been telling him that the way he wanted to live his life was wrong - but he knew he couldn't help the way he felt and he also knew that he wanted the life he had right now more than anything.

On the upper levels of the house a radio turned on and low male voice hummed along to the tune. Eric smiled to himself as he set about making a pot of coffee for the other man, knowing that after Tim had taken his shower he would come downstairs wearing nothing but a towel, looking for a cup of black coffee which he would then consume in an attempt to wake up his system after a sleepless night.

Just as Eric predicted, fifteen minutes later he heard the bathroom door open and footsteps descending the staircase.

"Coffee," Tim mumbled as he practically stumbled into the kitchen of the two storey house.

Eric rolled his eyes, thinking that Tim should get an early night every one in a while and as he handed the pre-made coffee mug to the other man he voiced this thought as the other man thanked him. Tim chuckled to himself as he sipped the steaming liquid. "You know I could never go to sleep as early as you can," he replied, still sounding half asleep. "It's not my fault work starts too early," he added.

Eric rolled his eyes again as he placed his own cup in the sink, "You should mention that to H the next time we have a meeting," Eric said, placing a gentle kiss on his lovers cheek, feeling Tim's trademark stubble graze his face lightly, as he walked past. "Tell him that work starts too early for those of us who aren't morning people," he added, before leaving Tim alone in the room to finish his coffee as Eric went to take a shower.

The half Russian sighed as he stepped underneath the warm spray of the water, letting the rushing water run over him. While the clear water cleansed his body, his thoughts wandered back to what he had been thinking about earlier that morning.

The other CSI's at Miami-Dade Crime Lab were used to Tim and Eric strolling out of the elevator first thing in the morning, in deep conversation - Tim usually woke up from his sleep ridden stupor as Eric drove the pair of them through downtown Miami's morning traffic. The pair of them decided, as soon as they started seeing each other, that they would not keep their relationship hidden from their colleagues.

They knew that if they kept their feelings for each other secret from those around them the pressure of having to lie about where they had been and who they had been with would eventually get to them and would, more than likely ruin their relationship as well as their friendship.

Most of the people at the lab had been tolerant of their feelings for each other - the only people that mattered though, supported them completely. Alexx because she could just tell how much they liked each other. Calleigh thought it was the cutest thing ever. And Horatio - well, who knows what Horatio's thinking?

Eric closed his eyes and tilted his head back, wishing that his parents could been more understanding about his feelings for the other man. His parents were devout Catholics and while they had not disowned their son, they had made it clear that they didn't want to know anything about his relationship with Tim. They refused to even let Tim into their house. Tim was simply never mentioned under the Delko's roof. Eric's parents and sisters felt that their son's sexual orientation was a direct sin against their church and belief's.

"If you stay in there for much longer your skin's going to be all wrinkly," Tim's voice said, startling him - he hadn't even heard the bathroom door open.

"What time is it?" Eric called over the noise the spray of the water was making.

Through the foggy shower door Eric saw Tim glance at his watch before he replied, "Seven forty-five. Come on," he added, "if we don't leave soon the traffic's going to be murder," Tim said, passing his lover a towel as the other man stepped out of the shower.

"Hopefully not literally," Eric joked, taking the towel off of Tim and rubbing his chest and arms dry.

Tim rolled his eyes, "Don't jinx it," he said, kissing Eric lightly on the forehead, "and hurry up. If we're late I'm going to totally blame you," he added before he left Eric alone to finish getting ready.

* * *

"Morning gentlemen," Horatio Caine greeted them as they stepped out of the elevator on time, despite Tim's instance that they were going to be late.

"Hey, H," Eric said, Tim doing the same.

"Eric," Horatio said, getting straight down to business, "I need you to get your diving gear. A DB's just been reported floating a few miles downstream, Alexx is going to go with you. Tripp's already there," Horatio informed him.

Eric nodded his head, walking past Tim towards the morgue where he knew Alexx would be, running his hand gently across Tim's arm - they tried not to be too tactile in public in case it made people uncomfortable and a soft touch of the arm was to enough to let Tim know that Eric would see him at home later. "What have you got on today?" Horatio asked Tim as Eric walked away.

"Still testing the Trace evidence from the Jane Doe case," Tim replied with a sigh, wishing they had something else to call the girl.

Horatio nodded his head, "I'll let you get on it then," he added, before saying goodbye to Tim and wandering away down the corridor.

* * *

Tim had been home alone for hours when he heard the lock on the front door click and the door open. "Tim?" Eric called quietly as he closed the door.

"In here," Tim called back from the sitting room, his eyes not moving from the television screen.

"I didn't want to disturb you," Eric said, entering the room and flopping down on the sofa next to Tim.

Tim smiled at him, running his fingers through Eric's hair as the other man put his head on Tim's lap. "You didn't disturb me," he whispered.

"I thought you might be asleep," Eric said, yawning as he looked up at Tim.

Tim shook his head, rolling his eyes affectionately, "I'm not tired," he told Eric. "But you look like you've been through hell. Rough day?"

Eric nodded his head, his eyes almost falling closed, "I've been in the water all day. Why can't people just bury evidence like they used to?"

Tim chuckled, "Do you want anything to eat before you go to bed?" he asked. "Eric?" he said, looking down at his lap and smiling when he saw that his lovers eyes had fallen closed.

Gently he shook Eric awake, "Wha?" he murmured, looking into Tim's eyes.

"Come on," Tim said, "you need to get some sleep," he added. "You're going to bed."

"Only if you come with me," Eric replied. "You spend every night alone in front of the television, it won't hurt you to actually come to bed at the same time as me once in a while."

"You know I have insomnia," Tim said, standing up and taking Eric's hand, leading the other man to the bedroom.

Eric nodded his head, "I know," he agreed, getting undressed. When he was wearing nothing but his underwear he started unbuttoning Tim's shirt.

"Eric," Tim protested, gently trying to push Eric's hands away from him, "I'm not tired," he added.

"I know," Eric replied, continuing to unbutton his lover's shirt. "But I am," he added, taking Tim's hand and leading the other man over to the bed. "At least keep me company until I fall asleep?" he asked. "Then you can go watch television again."

Tim sighed and nodded his head, "Since it's you," he whispered in Eric's ear as Eric pulled the covers over them both.

Eric smiled, wrapping his arms around Tim and nuzzling his nose against his shoulder, closing his eyes.

Tim shook his head and placed his hands over Eric's which were resting on his abdomen, his eyes falling closed of their own accord. Soon Tim's even breathing filled the room indicating that he had fallen asleep.

Eric's smile broadened as he too closed his eyes, _Not tired my arse_, he thought to himself as he too drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Eric was in the shower when the bathroom door opened and Tim entered the room. "You tricked me last night," Tim said in Eric's ear.

"No I didn't," Eric replied, stepping to the side, allowing Tim to step further under the spray of the water. "You fell asleep at eleven o'clock instead of three in the morning," Eric said. "It's the fist time in ages that you haven't needed a cup of coffee first thing in the morning," he added. "See what a good nights sleep can do for you?" he asked, wrapping his arms around the other CSI's neck.

"You're lucky you're so loveable," Tim whispered, kissing Eric softly on the lips.

Eric grinned at him when he pulled back, "We can't get into that now," he said regretfully, glancing down between their bodies at Tim's erection. "H will skin us alive if we're late because we were shagging," he added. Tim just laughed.

* * *

"Speed," the receptionist said as Tim walked past the front desk, "here's your messages," she said, handing Tim a piece of paper.

Tim thanked her and walked away from the desk as he read the telephone message. Halfway through the message Tim stopped dead mid-step.

Frowning he quickly turned in the opposite direction, heading for the lab where he knew Eric was. "We have a problem," Tim announced to his lover who was working alone in the lab comparing fingerprint evidence.

Eric looked up, "What?" he asked.

"We have a problem," Tim repeated, walking around the table and standing next to Eric. He showed him the message, "My parents are in town, they just arrived this morning. It says that they want to meet me for coffee and come see my new house. This isn't good."

Eric frowned and nodded his head. "I'll ask Calleigh if I can crash at her house for the night," he said.

"Are you sure?" Tim asked, looking into the other man's brown eyes.

Eric nodded his head again, "Yeah," he told him. "It's ok," he insisted, seeing Tim's guilty face. "Your parents are coming here to see you, it's not fair to make you uncomfortable around them by me being there," he said.

"Eric," Tim whispered, "I'm sorry. I know it's not right to ask you to do that but,"

Eric held a finger to the other man's lips, "Shh," he breathed, "I know, I know," he added. "Your parents don't know about us. I get it. Now, go," he added, "I have fingerprints to process," he said, placing a soft kiss on Tim's lips before the other man headed towards the door. "Oh, Tim?" Eric called after him. Tim turned around and looked at him questioningly. "You're almost thirty two, how long are you going to keep pretending to be straight?"

* * *

"Why'd you say that?" Tim asked down the phone as hopped off his bike outside their home later that day.

"Why did I say what?" Eric asked.

"You asked me how long I was going to pretend to be straight," Tim replied, closing the garage door. "When did this come up? You've never mentioned it before."

Tim heard Eric sigh, "I didn't mean it to sound like it did. But I've actually been doing some thinking and I just wondered how long you were going to keep pretending to be something you're not. I know you're worried about how your parents are going to react but you know they're not going to disown you or anything. Look at how mine reacted," he added. "Not how we both expected, did they?"

"Are you mad at me?" Tim asked unlocking the door, swooping down to pick the mail off of the floor.

"Nah," Eric disagreed, "you know I can't stay mad at you for that long. I just think that you need to tell them the truth."

Tim sighed, "It's just not that easy, you know?" he asked, glancing at the mail quickly before tossing the envelopes on the side cabinet along with his badge, keys and gun.

"I know," Eric agreed, "but when is anything worth while easy?" he added. "Listen Tim, I have to go. Me and Calleigh agreed we'd have what she keeps calling a girly night in," he said.

Tim laughed, "You going to paint each others nails and gossip about boys?" he sniggered.

Eric chuckled as well, "She can paint her nails all she wants, as long as she doesn't come anywhere near mine," he said.

"Maybe that's best," Tim said. "I don't think red nail polish would suit you that much."

"Yeah," Eric agreed. "Pink's more my colour," he added. "Oh food," he suddenly stated. "Tim, I gotta go. The blonde just arrived with what looks to be Chinese takeout."

"Ok," Tim said, saying goodbye before putting the phone down.

He had called his parents a few hours earlier to agree a time they could come over to visit. They were due to arrive in an hour - that gave Tim sixty minutes to get changed out of the clothes he had been wearing all day and try to make it look like he was the only male that lived there so that his parents wouldn't discover the very reason why he had left Syracuse to come to Miami.

Tim felt awful about himself when the door bell rang a short while later and he made his way down the stairs - he had hidden everything of Eric's that he could think of that would tell his parents that Tim didn't live in the house on his own.

* * *

"Timmy," his mother cried as soon as he opened the door. "Baby," she added, throwing her arms around her sons neck. "How are you?" she asked, as Tim ushered her and her husband into the house.

"I'm fine, mom," he told her rolling his eyes to his mothers male companion.

"Don't you mind your mother," Jack Speedle - Tim's stepfather - said, patting Tim on the back. "She hasn't seen you in a while, she's missed you," he added.

Tim shifted uncomfortably as he closed the door, "Yeah," he muttered, "sorry about that. Work, you know?" he said, following his parents into the sitting room.

"Work?" Nicola Speedle asked, sitting down on the sofa and looking up at her son. "They're not working you too hard down at the crime lab, are they Timmy?" she asked, concern shining in her eyes.

Tim shook his head, "No, mom," he replied. "H is ok, he doesn't push us to do more work than necessary."

"Looks like you still live here alone, son," Jack said, glancing around the living room. "Still no chance of you settling down with a girl in the near future, eh?" he asked.

Tim cleared his throat nervously, "Erm, no, dad. Still haven't found the right… girl," he added. "Do you want a drink?" he asked, swiftly trying to change the subject.

Tim closed the kitchen door and sighed as he rested his head against the cool wood of the door. Taking a deep breath in he pushed himself upright and set about making his mother and father the drinks they had asked for.

He paused when he went to open the freezer for ice, staring at a picture that was clipped to the door by a fridge magnet Calleigh had given them when she visited her own parents back in Louisiana. Carefully he took the picture off the freezer, smiling at the memories it brought back.

_"Come on, Tim," Calleigh laughed, looking up from the sofa at him. _

Tim shook his head, "I don't like photo's being taken," he said, taking the camera off of Alexx's friend. "I'll take the picture," he added.

"Tim, come on," Eric said, grabbing hold of the other CSI's hand and pulling him down. "Just one photo, something for the album," he added, wrapping his arms around Tim's waist so that the reluctant man couldn't escape as Tim handed the camera back to Alexx's friend.

"Ok," the friend - who Tim didn't know the name off - said, focusing the camera on the group of them, "everybody say crime scene_."_

Tim chuckled as he looked at the picture - they all looked so relaxed at Alexx's Christmas party. Even Horatio was smiling as Calleigh held two fingers over his head from behind. His smile turned to a frown when his eyes landed on him sat on Eric's lap, with the other man's head looking over his shoulder at the camera. There was a smile on Eric's face but his eyes seemed to bore right into Tim - somehow making him feel even guiltier about having concealed Eric's existence in Tim's life.

He sighed quietly as he replaced the picture and continued making the drinks. "Fine, Eric," he whispered, glancing at the picture as he passed, "but if they disown me I'll kill you," he threatened, pushing the door open and entering the sitting room.

"Mom, Dad," he said, passing them their drinks. "There's something I need to tell you," he added, sitting down on the coffee table opposite them.

* * *

"Hey," Tim greeted Eric when the other man arrived home on Saturday morning. "I missed you," he said, wrapping his arms around Eric and kissing him passionately.

Eric chuckled breathlessly as he pulled back. "I was only at Calleigh's for one night," he laughed.

"So?" Tim said, kissing him hungrily. "I still missed you." Eric smiled at him, "I missed you too," he told Tim, kissing him back, moaning when Tim ground his hips against Eric's own. "Do you want to show me how much you missed me?" he purred in Tim's ear, licking the out shell.

Tim groaned, his hands clutching at Eric's back desperately as he nodded his head, moaning in disappointment as Eric pulled away from him. Eric smirked at him, "Bed," he whispered.

Tim shook his head, "Too far," he muttered, grabbing hold of Eric's hand and leading him into the sitting room.

"The couch," Eric said, realising what Tim meant, just before Tim pushed him on to the couch, kissing him passionately.

* * *

Eric looked up from fastening his shirt later that day and his breath caught in his throat. "Woah," he said.

Tim frowned and glanced down, "What?" he asked.

"You… you… you…" Eric stammered, "shaved," he added.

Tim grinned sheepishly, running a hand along his jaw line. "Yeah," he mumbled, "just felt like looking clean shaven for once," he explained.

"You should shave more often," Eric said, managing to tear his eyes away from Tim and finish fastening his shirt. "Where are we having lunch, anyway?" he asked, opening the drawer and withdrawing a pair of cufflinks.

"I can't tell you yet," Tim replied. "It's a surprise," he added.

Eric huffed sulkily and folded his arms across his chest. "Fine," he muttered, scowling at Tim.

* * *

"Isn't this the hotel your parents are staying at?" Eric asked as Tim pulled his car up to the front of the hotel - Eric flat out refused to ride on the back of Tim's bike.

Tim nodded his head, getting out and handing the keys to the valet, "Yeah," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he lead Eric into the hotel lobby. "They want to meet you," he added, glancing around looking for his parents.

"Why would they want to meet me?" Eric asked. "How would they even know about me?" he added before a look of realisation swept over his face. "You told them didn't you?" he asked quietly.

Tim nodding his head, sighing as he spotted Nicola and Jack across the room. "Yeah," he mumbled. "They didn't say that they were happy about it, but they didn't say that they hated the idea either."

"I'm proud of you," Eric whispered, placing a gentle hand on Tim's back. "I know how hard it was to tell them," he added as they headed over to Tim's parents.

Tim smiled at him, "It was the least I could do. After all, you told your parents about me years ago," he said. "I figured I owed it to you."

"Timmy," Nicola said, throwing her arms around her son.

Tim blushed at his mothers public display of affection, "Mom, dad, this is Eric Delko," Tim introduced. "Eric, this is my mom and dad," he added.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Speedle," Eric said politely, holding his hand out.

Nicola shook her head, "Enough of the Mrs Speedle shit," she said bluntly, knocking his hand out of the way and hugging him tightly. "It's Nicola," she added, releasing the CSI.

"Nicola," Eric repeated, nodding his head. "Well it's nice to meet you, Nicola," he added.

"Guess that means you can call me Jack," Tim's father said, holding his hand out to Eric.

Eric grinned and nodded his head, shaking Jack's hand. His grin soon turned into a confused frown when Jack refused to let go of his hand and the older man pulled Eric closer. "How long have you been seeing each other?" he asked, looking at Eric intently.

"A-A-Almost two years, sir," Eric replied nervously.

"Almost two years," Jack whispered to himself. "Well, Eric," he said, his voice too low for Tim to hear what was being said, "if you've been dating each other for that long you must be pretty serious about each other," he observed. Eric nodded his head, "And if you ever hurt my son, your colleague's will have a new crime scene to investigate, you get me?" he asked.

Eric gulped nervously and nodded his head again, "I would never dream of hurting Tim, sir," he promised. "I love him," he added.

Jack smiled, "Good," he said. "Never forget you said that," he added, releasing Eric's hand and stepping away from him.

"What are you two talking about over there?" Tim asked, looking up from where he was talking with his mother and looking at his father suspiciously.

Jack shook his head, looking at Eric - and Eric knew that he was to never tell Tim what Jack had said to him. "Nothing," he said, "just telling Eric over here that I'm glad you've found someone special."

Tim's eyes lit up, "Does this mean you're not mad at me?" he asked hopefully, sounding like a little boy again.

Nicola looked at him in surprise, "Honey, why would you think we would be mad at you?" she asked.

Tim shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Eric out of the corner of his eye. "Oh I see," she whispered, taking hold of each of their hands. "You too look so cute together," she said, placing Tim's hand in Eric's. "What other people think or say shouldn't matter as long as you two love each other," she added. "But yes," she continued, "you both have mine and your fathers blessing."

* * *

"I wish you had told me that you'd told them before we left," Eric said, unfastening his cufflinks and tossing them on the dresser. "I would have dressed up more if I had known they wanted to meet your boyfriend."

"You looked fine," Tim whispered, stepping up behind him and looking at their reflection in the mirror. "Very fine," he added, wrapping his arms around Eric's waist and kissing his neck gently.

"You and Jack don't look alike, you know? He's not your biological father is he?" Eric said quietly after a few moments of silence.

Tim's brown eyes darkened as he scowled, "No," he replied shortly.

Eric sighed and turned around in Tim's arms, "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to…"

Tim shook his head, "No, I'm sorry," he said, resting his forehead against Eric's, "I shouldn't have snapped. It's just my real dad… he… well - to tell you the truth - he's a fucking stupid bastard who can rot in prison for all I care."

"He's in prison?" Eric asked, sounding stunned.

Tim nodded his head, "Yeah," he whispered. "When I was a little kid he beat my mom and me - a lot. Turns out he was into drugs seriously bad, some undercover narco cop - never did find out his name - busted him and he was found guilty of drug trafficking and money laundering. Got tossed in the big house, he's probably still there now. I never saw him again - thank fucking god - but he made me want to be a cop." Eric looked at him questioningly. "It made me so fucking mad that no one noticed when I would go into school with bruises or when all you could hear was things breaking and people screaming at the top of their lungs - yet no one came to see what the trouble was. No one fucking helped us. I swore that I'd make something of myself, you know. Told myself that I wasn't going to go the same way he did. I wanted to do something that helped others." Eric smiled sadly and wrapped his arms further around Tim, holding the other man closer to his body. "Do you want to go swimming?" Eric asked, trying to take his mind off of his family.

Tim frowned, "Eric, it's dark," Tim stated as if Eric wasn't aware that it was night time.

"So?" Eric asked. "We have lights out back," he added. "Besides, that way, no one will notice that we haven't got anything on," he whispered in Tim's ear.

* * *

Eric moved his head slightly to the quiet music that was coming from the car stereo as he gently moved the cloth over the hood of the car, giving the black paintwork a light wax.

"Eric?" a familiar voice asked from the other side of the car.

"Marisol?" he asked in surprise, looking at his sister. "What are you doing here?" he added, looking at his three year old niece that was clutching hold of her mothers hand. "Does mom and dad know you've brought your daughter to the house of sin?" he asked, tossing the rag down and walking around the car to the other side. "Hey, Adrianna," he greeted the little girl, swooping down and picking her up.

"I missed you, uncle Eric," Adrianna said, throwing her arms around her uncles neck.

Eric grinned at her, "I know darling," he replied, kissing her on the forehead. "I missed you too," he added. "What are you doing here?" he asked, looking at his sister.

"Adrianna wanted to see her uncle Eric," Marisol explained. "She begged-," she broke off and her eyes drifted off to the porch of the house. "What's he doing here?" she said, glaring past Eric.

Eric turned around and saw Tim stood there looking at her in surprise - Eric's family _never_ visited their house. "Marisol," Eric said, turning around to face his sister. "Tim has every right to be here, he lives here too, you know?" he said, seeing the expression on her face.

Marisol sighed and nodded her head, "I know," she whispered. "Could you look after Adrianna today?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Me and Joel are going out for the day," she said. "We can't find anyone else to look after her," she added. "And she really did want to come and see you."

"If I look after her, Tim will be there as well," Eric said, glancing over his shoulder at the house and Tim - who was now leaning on the column supporting the canopy above the porch.

"Look," Marisol sighed, "I'm not going to pretend to like the fact that you're living with _him_," she almost spat and Eric had to bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from retorting. "But Adrianna gets sad when she hasn't seen you for a long time and I don't want her growing up hardly seeing you. And if she has to be around him to spend time with you, then that's how it has to be."

"Well you may not like Tim, but I love him," Eric told her, ignoring her as she flinched, "and I don't care what you all think about it anymore. I'm not going to pretend that loving him isn't a big part of my life whenever me and everyone else in the family are together. Get it?"

"I get it," she whispered. "So, will you look after her?" she asked.

Eric nodded his head, "You know I can't refuse anything to do with my niece," he told her, ruffling Adrianna's hair, smiling as she giggled.

Marisol smiled for the first time since arriving at the Delko-Speedle residence, stepping forward and placing a kiss on her older brothers cheek. "Thanks, Eri," she whispered, kissing Adrianna goodbye before making her way to her car.

"What was that about?" Tim asked, stepping down off the porch and walking towards Eric as Marisol took off.

"She wanted me to look after Adrianna," Eric answered. "Adrianna?" he asked, looking down at the black haired girl that was still in his arms. "Do you want to go to the beach with me and Uncle Timmy?" he asked.

Adrianna grinned and nodded her head excitedly. "Can't I just be Uncle Tim?" Tim asked as Eric took Adrianna inside. "Why does it have to be Timmy?"

"I think Timmy's cute," Eric said, turning to face Tim. "Don't you like it?" he asked and Tim shook his head. "You let Alexx call you it," Eric reminded.

"Would you argue with Alexx?" Tim asked.

Eric laughed and shook his head, "Good point," he said, leaning into kiss Tim.

Tim stepped back slightly, glancing questioningly at Adrianna, who was playing with the television remote - giggling to herself when she pressed the power button and the television turned on.

"I know," Eric whispered, capturing Tim's lips with his own before the older man realised what was happening. "Maybe we can get at least one person in my family to give us their blessing," he added, smiling at Tim before gathering some things to take to the beach.

Tim smiled as well and sat down on the sofa next to Adrianna, "Hi Adrianna," he said quietly.

Adrianna turned her head and looked up at him. "Are you Uncle Timmy?" she asked curiously. Tim nodded his head, "What do you do?" she asked, looking at him intently.

"I'm a police man," he told her.

Her eyes widened in awe, "Like Uncle Eric?" she asked and Tim nodded his head. "Have you got a shiny thing too?"

"A badge," Eric called from the kitchen, where - Tim could only assume - he was making sandwiches.

"Where," Tim started to ask.

"By the door," Eric interrupted, "right where you left it," he added.

Tim smiled and rose from the couch, "Excuse me a second, Adrianna," he said before leaving the room. He returned a few seconds later with his badge and gun - which he thought he should lock away from the little girl. "Here you go," he said, handing the badge to Eric's niece.

Adrianna's eyes were shining with glee as she took it off of him, "Thank you, Uncle Timmy," she said, looking at the badge from every angle.

"What you doing with that?" Eric said, returning to the living room and seeing Tim with the gun. "It's not that smart to leave a gun lying around if there's a kid in the house, you know?" he asked.

Tim rolled his eyes, "I know that you idiot," he said. "That's why I was going to put it in this drawer," he added, opening the drawer and placing the gun inside. "Now," he locked the drawer and took the key out, "let's just hope I don't lose the key," he said.

"Why don't you let me look after that?" Eric took the key off of Tim and put it in his wallet. "You wouldn't want to ask for a new gun because you locked your old one in a drawer and lost the key, would you? Imagine how embarrassing that would be," he added.

"Uncle Eric," Adrianna spoke up, "can we go to the beach now?" she asked.

Eric nodded his head, turning around to face her. "Yeah, but you'll have to give Uncle Timmy his badge back, sweet heart," he said softly.

Adrianna shook her head and clutched the badge to her chest. "Adrianna, you have to give it back, it might get lost," Eric sighed.

Adrianna shook her head again. Just as Eric opened his mouth again, Tim laid a hand on his arm, "I'll deal with this, Eric," he whispered in the other man's ear.

"Adrianna," Tim said softly, kneeling down in front of the little girl. "If you give me it back and let me put it in a safe place while we're at the beach, you can look after it until your mommy comes to pick you up," he told her.

"You promise?" Adrianna asked, looking at Tim and trying to interpret if he was lying.

Tim nodded his head, "I promise," he swore.

Adrianna smiled and handed the badge back to it's owner, "Thank you," Tim whispered before the little girl surprised him and Eric by throwing her arms around the CSI's neck and hugging him tightly.

"I like you, Uncle Timmy," she told him as she pulled away.

Tim smiled and ruffled her hair as he stood up, "Thank you, Adrianna," he said. "I like you too," he added. "I think that's our blessing," he said to Eric as he placed the badge on the side cabinet.

Eric smiled and nodded his head, "I think so too," he added, swooping Adrianna off of the couch. "Let's go," he said to her.

Adrianna grinned and nodded her head, "I want to go with Uncle Timmy," she said, reaching her arms out for Tim.

Tim smiled at her and took her out of Eric's arms. "Come on, then," he said, leading the lot of them out of the house to Eric's car.

The End


End file.
